FINDING THE FINE LINE BETWEEN URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND NATURAL HERITAGE

2020 has been a year of transformation for Forest City. From constructinon development, urban operation and management, to city culture formation, Forest City is making its way to become a prime model of future cities with industrial integration and great livability.

As a city operator, Forest City recently published Forest City Ecological Development Action Plan during the launch of its Eco Museum Phase 1 Exhibition Hall. This plan outlined the mission of Forest City ecological development, and clearly defined the goals and targets of eco city development, operation and management from the start of project development in 2014 towards the future. Following this plan, Forest City will carry out green infrastructure development as a foundation, leverage on high-tech industries to enhance urban economic development, and eventually become a green and vibrant city with diversified industries and cultures.

Forest City Ecological Development Action Plan encompasses three phases, for each phase, there will be a set of development indicators set out from the areas of “Industry, City, and People” in urban operations. Phase 1 is from 2014 to 2019, which is mainly the infrastructure and construction development stage for the urban green ecosystem; phase 2, from 2020 to 2023, focuses on industrial development, urban operation management and integrated development of a liveable city. It is also the key stage to realize the industry-city integration; Phase 3 is to set up a futuristic urban development plan in 2023 and define forward-looking development goals.

Phase 1 (2014 to 2019): The basic stage of the urban green ecosystem development, applying environmental concept throughout the urban planning, development, construction, and city operations.

• Forest City Environmental Measures in the Construction and Development

In the construction and planning of urban development, Forest City has a strong belief in sustainable development, always finding a balance between urban construction and the natural environment, and implementing the green development plan of the city step by step. For example, before the start of the project, Forest City has generated a comprehensive environmental impact assessment report for large-scale engineering projects such as reclamation and invested over RM 20 million to set up a double-layer sand prevention net during land reclamation process to minimize the environmental impact.

In the subsequent development, Forest City has carried out close monitoring on the dynamic changes of the environment, through regular hydrological monitoring, satellite remote sensing, etc., and been constantly improving on the environmental management plan. Since 2014, Forest City has been continuously cooperating with professional environmental consultant AES, hydrological consultant DHI, University Putra Malaysia and other research institutions to monitor the surrounding ecology, hydrology, seagrass, etc., and improve the surrounding marine ecosystem.

For mangrove conservation, Forest City uses satellite remote sensing technology to monitor the mangroves conditions. In response to the illegal logging of mangroves found in the monitoring, a special mangrove protection taskforce was formed in 2017, and it has effectively stopped 5 illegal logging cases as of the end of 2019. The combination of satellite remote sensing and ground field patrol and inspections by the taskforce ensures the mangroves to be well taken care and safeguarded.

As the city development evolves, in February 2020, the Forest City Construction Environmental Management Plan was implemented, with detailed management measures for water quality monitoring, sediment quality, ecological monitoring, sedimentation monitoring, shoreline monitoring, air quality and noise control during the construction. All contractors are enforced to comply with the management plan accordingly. The environmental management budget will be accounted into project cost, providing financial assurance for the sustainable development.

• Forest City Environmental Measures Urban Operations

In the making of an eco-friendly city, Forest City also spares no effort in green infrastructure building. As an advocate of Sponge City, Forest City strives to build a low-impact development rainwater system, which absorbs, stores, seeps, and purifies water when it rains, and “releases” the stored water when needed. In practice, Forest City leverages on large areas of green space and permeable materials to reduce rainwater runoff, and collects and stores rainwater in artificial lakes for irrigation, in this way it reduces surface runoff and effectively utilizes rainwater resources to reduce environmental impact. At the same time, all sewage from Forest City is collected for centralized treatment. After an advanced ecological sewage treatment system and a wetland treatment, the effluent water quality is able to meet CLASSⅡB standard, which is higher than the ordinary discharge standard in Malaysia. The effluent will then be used for irrigation of roof gardens, vertical greenery, outdoor landscapes, as well as public toilets flushing, etc. Wastewater recycling has significant environmental and economic benefits.

In addition, rubbish classification and recycling has been widely adopted by the municipal and property management teams. Since the beginning of 2017, Forest City has deployed hundreds of rubbish classification and recycling devices all over the island, which effectively enhanced the recycling rate and reduced the waste discharge.

• Forest City’s Industrial Development

In phase 1, Forest City has already laid a solid foundation of the green industry, with the launch of leading IBS plant, golf resort and some other related industries. At the same time, Forest City is also trying to promote the integration of industry, education and research, working with scientific research institutions in the field of green development and environmental protection. Currently, it has established long-term cooperative relationships with a number of local universities and institutions such as UPM, AES, and UMT, etc.

• Forest City Green Culture Formation

The launch of Forest City Eco Museum is yet another milestone in this process. As an important supporting facility of the city, the Eco Museum will serve as a knowledge exchange platform for the residents, local community and other environmental volunteers. The completion of Phase 1 and upcoming Phase 2 and 3 of the Eco Museum shows that it will surely become a gathering point for public cultural exchanges, providing support for both hardware and heart-ware to promote the integration of multi-cultural integration and CSR.

“Love Nature, Love Forest City”— “Go Green” project was launched in 2019, and it has spearheaded multiple environmental activities to-date. “Go Green” has now become an iconic program of Forest City connecting the residents, local community, NGOs, and surrounding school premises on green initiatives. With the same objectives, Forest City has garnered support from various end volunteers to participate in the green causes and to explore the balance between urban development and natural heritage.

• Forest City’s green movement is widely recognized by the industry

Forest City’s green movement in phase 1 has been widely recognized by the public and the society. Since 2016, Forest City has won more than 10 international and national environmental awards:

• On 5 May 2016, Forest City won the Merit Award for Landscape Analysis and Planning. As the first city adopting vertical greening, Forest City won international recognition by virtue of its unique environment protection and architectural concept. It is the only real estate project in Malaysia to have garnered this award.
• On 5 August 2016, Forest City Sales Gallery won the gold level pre-certification under LEED-CS. With the most advanced and pragmatic scoring system in green building certification, it is considered to be the most complete and influential in the evaluation of green buildings and building sustainability.
• On 17 October 2016, Forest City won the Global Human Settlements Award on Planning and Design. Subordinated to SCAHSA (Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Award) which is also known as “the Oscar Award in Human Settlements”, it enjoys strong support and high recognition of UN organizations such as UNEP (United Nations Environment Program).
• On 31 October 2017, Forest City won the Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Award (SCAHSA) again, it clinched the title of Global Model of Green Building Industrial Park (IBS Park).
• On 24 November 2017, Forest City was awarded 2017 Best Sustainable Development (South Malaysia). Known as the “Oscar Awards” in Malaysia real estate industry, the awards granted in Best Sustainable Development aim at commending the real estate projects which showcase environment-friendly elements in its planning, design and construction processes, and encourages environment sustainability as a way of life.
• On 18 September, Forest City championed in the Star Property Award again, and was named the Most Iconic International City Planner & Sustainable Smart City Developer.
• On 22 November 2018, Forest City Island 1 and Shattuck-St. Mary’s Forest City International School Multi Use Centre received GreenRE Sustainable Design Award 2018 Gold Certification GreenRE is one of Malaysia’s leading green building rating tools and it is the most influential assessment and certification institution for green buildings in Malaysia. The award for the Sustainable Design Gold Certification is a recognition on the green development of Forest City by Malaysia and the industry.
• On 15 March 2019, Forest City won Asean Property Award on Best Sustainable Green Development. Forest City has a leading industrialized building system, and committed in Green & Smart construction, created over hundreds local job positions. This award is a high recognition of the implementation of a green sustainable development strategy in Forest City to build a green and smart city.
• On 6 September 2019, Global Green Smart City, this is the fourth time that Forest City has been awarded the international award and is the only Malaysian project to receive this award in 2019.
• On 29 November 2019, Forest City won 2019 Asian Townscape Jury’s Award and Asian Townscape Design Award – Innovative Design Award. Forest City’s “Feather of the Sea” International Business Complex won these 2 awards by virtue of its green building design, its design and planning concept of sustainable development, and other highlights such as its comprehensive planning and application of a smart city as well as protection measures for the ecological environment.

Phase 2 (2020-2023): To gradually achieve the goal of industry-city integration. Empower Forest City development with leading industries such as e-commerce centers, green and smart industries, and high-tech industries, etc.

In order to realize the integrated development of industry and city, Forest City takes “Green” and “Smart” as the key focuses in phase 2 ecological development. It is committed to developing Industrialization 4.0 and bringing in high-tech industries such as robotics to empower the green development, and making Forest City truly a prime model of future cities that is livable with industrial integration.

According to the plan of “Industry-City Integration”,in phase 2, Forest City will work on the infrastructure development, supporting facilities and government incentives, focusing on the development of e-commerce centers, high-tech industries and green and smart industries.

In terms of urban development and operation, Forest City will build a 4km eco corridor, with multiple interesting hot spots such as the green plant maze, ecological base, seagrass conservation area, wedding square, tree house Café, open-air cinema, etc. along the way to create an immersive eco experience. After completion, the 4km eco corridor will form one of the main components of the Forest City Open Eco Museum phase 2. The completed eco museum phase 1 exhibition hall and upcoming phase 2 eco corridor will become a popular eco-tourism place in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Forest City will make full use of these resources to develop multiple themed ecotourism routes, such as the golf resort route, ecological health route, environmental education and experience route, etc., to attract tourists from all over the world and elevate the local tourism industry. We believe that with further development and improvement of the urban ecosystem, Forest City will become a center for eco-tourism cultural exchange, environmental education, health care and leisure, etc.

In addition, the phase 2 exhibition hall of Forest City Eco Museum will leverage on high-tech (e.g. VR immersive experience, LIVE recording of seahorse and seagrass conservation, etc.) to provide visitors with a new natural ecosystem experience. At the same time, it will continue to serve as an environmental education hub and a communication platform for the local community and the environmentalists.

In the city culture building, Forest City will continue to promote environmental protection and multi-cultural integration. The “GO GREEN” project initiated by the residents and employees will reach out the audience beyond Forest City and inculcate the environmental mindset in a wider community.

Phase 3 (2023 and beyond): To build a harmonized urban ecosystem with the coexistence of city development and natural heritage

Looking forward, Forest City will continue to spare no effort in finding the fine line between urban development and natural heritage. As a prime model of future cities, we will continue to fulfill our corporate mission to create better economic and social values. We hope to create a better society with the existence of Forest City.

In the future, Forest City will become a perfect “sponge city” to better manage the rain water and achieve zero discharge of sewage via the robust water recycling system. We will make every drop counts in Forest City.

For industrial development, under the guidance of the ecological development plan, Forest City will continue to develop industries of Tourism & MICE, Healthcare, Education & Training, Regional Headquarters, Nearshore Finance, etc to achieve industry-city integration, industry-education-research integration and a coordinated order of city functions.

Putting people first, Forest City aims to establish and enrich the green and diversified city culture, and to create a future city with a harmonous coexistence of city and nature.